Preparing To Build - 6 Series

Preparing to Build, Seeing The Vision, Living The Dream-Pt. 6

Counting The Cost

Today, we continue our series. Today, we move forward in seeing the vision. In seeing what it is that God can do and will do in our future.

We’ve been talking now for the last five weeks about Preparing to Build, Seeing The Vision and Living The Dream. We’ve been talking about building. Building our lives, building our church and building our hearts for God.

Last week, we talked about the load bearing walls, those load bearing truths upon which we must build. How they are so important to secure the structure, to hold up the weight of the structure, to bear the weight of what’s to come.

We shared those load bearing truths and how important they are in our lives.

1. Jesus Is God

2. Jesus Paid It All

3. Jesus Rose From The Dead

4. Jesus Guarantees Our Future

5. Jesus Is Coming Again

Those are the load bearing walls upon which we build our lives and our church. Well today, you can see that our load bearing walls are in place. They are up and ready to move forward. In fact, quite a bit is in place today. It looks as if we have made great strides forward in our construction.

It’s during this phase in building that we always get restless. It’s during this phase that we begin to get impatient. Why? Because we think we are so close to the end. So close to the finished product. So close to what we’ve dreamed about.

Yet, it is always during this time, that we realize that there is still much to be done. The exterior walls always go up quickly and you think, “Certainly it must be close.” And when we realize that there is still much to be done, we get discouraged.

My friends, in our lives, the same thing happens over and over. We get discouraged when we realize that this road we travel is a long one. This road that God leads us to follow is long. And when we think we’ve made it, when we think we’ve arrived, there’s always more to do. And we get discouraged!

Today, I tell you, DON’T GET DISCOURAGED! Don’t let the road ahead wear you down. Don’t let it slow you down. Don’t let it take the joy out of the journey.

Isa. 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,

31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Six things I want to share with you today.

1. The end is worth the beginning

So many times in the building of a house, you get to this point. The point where walls are up, the roof is on, it starts to look like a house, it starts looking like what you dreamed about. And we get excited about it being finished.

However, it is also at this point, that we become painfully aware that we are nowhere near moving in. We are nowhere near completion. Even though it looks as if we’ve made great progress, we still have a long way to go.

This is when we all get a gut check. When we step back and realize that we haven’t arrived. We haven’t gotten to the place we want to be as of yet.

This is when discouragement comes rushing into our lives. Discouragement begins to take a grip on our hearts. This is when Satan can begin moving the hearts of men. Why? Because we aren’t keeping our eyes on the finish line.

We must focus on the end. Focus on what will come. Focus on the vision. Focus on what we will one day see, what we will one day enjoy, what we will one day experience.

In the book of Colossians 4:14, Demas is right there with Luke, the writer of the Gospel of Luke – working hard in the ministry with him.

Colossians 4:14 “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.”

In the book of Philemon verse 24, Demas is right there with some faithful servants – serving God and co-laboring right along side them:

Philemon 24 “Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow laborers.”

BUT THEN, some thing happened…something happened that changed his course and direction and his commitment to Christ. What changed his course? The verse tells us clearly: